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QUEENS WEEKLY, FEB. 3, 2019
Study: LIC is Queens’
healthiest hot spot
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A new report found that
three Queens neighborhoods
are on the list of the
healthiest neighborhoods
in the city.
StreetEasy teamed up
with Seamless to find the
top 10 healthiest neighborhoods
throughout New York
City . To find this information,
the study focused on
four key factors:
- The share of apartments
in buildings with
bike rooms, gyms and
smoke-free policies on
StreetEasy.
- The number of restaurants
that fulfilled the
highest amount of healthy
food orders on Seamless
- The number of gyms,
fitness studios, pools, doctor’s
offices, and health and
wellness facilities on Yelp
- The number of bike
lanes, public parks, community
gardens, recreation
centers, sports fields, nature
areas and farmer’s
markets, as found through
NYC Open Data.
According to the report’s
findings, Long Island
City came in as the second
healthiest neighborhood
in New York City, and the
most healthy in Queens.
The report found that Long
Island City had the highest
number of healthy restaurants,
ranking above
the New York City average
for restaurants that
fulfilled orders including
super foods, brain foods
and health-focused special
requests.
Right behind Long Island
City in the number three
spot is Oakland Gardens,
which StreetEasy noted
was one of the more affordable
neighborhoods, with a
median rent of $1,813, that
still offered many healthfocused
amenities.
The report found that
Oakland Gardens had
670,400 square-feet of park
space and 2,645 feet of bikes
lanes per 1,000 people, more
than 670 square-feet of park
space for every resident in
the neighborhood, which is
the most compared to the
rest of Queens.
Rounding out the bottom
of the list was Douglaston,
which took the No. 9
spot on the list. The report
found that Douglaston had
the second highest amount
of park space compared
to the rest of the list with
727,088 square-feet per
1,000 people.
Additionally, the report
found that restaurants in
Douglaston were 50 percent
more likely to fulfill
healthy request orders.
To read the full report,
visit StreetEasy.com.
Reach reporter Emily
Davenport by e-mail at
edavenport@qns.com or
by phone at (718) 224-5863
ext. 236.
Photo via Getty Images
A fi ne mess in Bayside
Residents, business owners rail against road construction woes
An excavator sits at the corner of 216th Street and 38th Avenue. Photo by Jenna Bagcal
BY JENNA BAGCAL
While there’s been
progress on the sewer
and water main upgrades
for Bayside and Flushing,
some residents and business
owners are feeling the
project’s negative effects.
Bayside resident Tony
Albasini said his biggest
issue is with the leftover
dirt that accumulates on
the streets.
“It’s horrendous, the
dirt. It’s coming up and
there’s a cloud of dust every
day,” said Albasini.
“They’re really not keeping
up with the street
cleaning. They had a street
sweeper there but they
only work the areas where
they’re actually digging
up. Anything past that is
just covered.”
Albasini said that parking
is at a premium now
that the work has started
traveling east along 38th
Avenue closer to where
he lives.
“We have a bunch of
people that live on those
blocks and now they’re
parking down by us and
we have to park a little
further away now,”
said Albasini.
“Parking is a pain in
the neck and the meter
maids are as good as they
come,” said Mike, the owner
of Pete & Sons Paint and
Wallpaper at 36-49 Bell
Blvd. “It seems like construction
workers come
for a day and then they disappear
for two weeks.”
In May 2018, the Department
of Design and
Construction (DDC) broke
ground on the $62.5 million
sewer and water main replacement
project, which is
funded by the Department
of Environmental Protection
(DEP). According to
DDC, project construction
includes over seven miles
of new water mains, new
storm and sanitary sewers
and 80 new fire hydrants
and catch basins.
“New water mains will
help to ensure a reliable
supply of high-quality
drinking water while
new catch basins and
storm sewers will help to
mitigate flooding,” a DDC
spokesperson said.
The city agency has
been working to install
water mains “along 33rd
Avenue from 156th Street
to Utopia Parkway, down
Utopia to 37th Avenue,
across 37th to Francis
Lewis Boulevard, and continuing
along 38th Avenue
until 216th Street.”
Construction for the
project was also planned
for small portions of 158th
Street, Clearview Expressway
Service Road West
and 216th Street.
According to the project’s
resident engineer,
Dudley Pierre, distribution
water mains have
already been installed
in the following areas
in Bayside:
- 216th Street from 39th
Avenue to 38th Avenue
- 38th Avenue from 216th
Street to 207th Street
- 39th Avenue from
215th Street to 216th Street
Pierre said that DDC
has completed sanitary
sewer work at 38th Avenue
from 215th to 216th
streets and sewer work is
currently happening on
216th from 38th to 40th
avenues.
By the end of January
or February, Pierre said
that they would begin
installing distribution
water mains on 38th Avenue
from 206th Street
to Francis Lewis Boulevard
and sanitary sewer
work on 38th Avenue
from 215th Street toward
207th Street.
DCC said that all work
is expected to be completed
by 2021.
Reach reporter Jenna
Bagcal by e-mail at jbagcal@
qns.com or by phone
at (718) 224-5863 ext. 214.
/StreetEasy.com
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